Water In Fuel Sensor or WiF Sensor

The WIF or Water in Fuel Sensor is used to determine the presence of water in your diesel fuel or Gasoline. The WIF sensor indicates the presence of water in the fuel. KLM Performance strongly recommends the regular draining of your fuel filter to prevent damage to your engine fuel injection system. The WIF sensor indicates a high presence of water in the fuel filter housing. This indication of water sends a warning signal to the engines ECU or the vehicles DashBoard. The WIF is a standard sensor element used in today's high-pressure common rail engines to prevent Fuel injector damage.

Where is the Water In Fuel Sensor Located?

The WIF sensor location is at the bottom of the OEM fuel filter housing. The fuel filter housing is used to contain the captured water from the fuel. When the water level reaches a certain point, the WIF sensor alerts you to the presence of water. The electronic control module provides a reference signal to the water-in-fuel sensor. When the water collected in the fuel filter covers the sensor probes, the water-in-fuel sensor then alerts you of high water accumulation in the fuel filter

Water is diesel fuel is a very common occurrence and must be addressed to prevent very costly repairs. The water gets into your diesel fuel from environmental conditions, high humidity, storage tanks, and naturally occurring condensation. Regular draining of your fuel water separator is the most efficient way to control water in your fuel.

Water In Fuel Sensors are used in most diesel pickup trucks, medium-duty, and Class 8 trucks, as well as Heavy Equipment and most diesel, powered engines.

What should be done if you get a Water In Fuel Sensor warning?

The Water-in-fuel sensor is a fuel filter sensor that provides the illumination for alerting the driver of a water buildup in the fuel filter. This warning sign that must be addressed This warning light indication immediately tells you that there is excess water in your diesel fuel. The fuel filter housing or diesel fuel water separator filter should quickly be drained to remove the water. Removing the water from this fuel filter housing should remove the warning light. By practicing a regular schedule of draining the filter, you prevent expensive repairs, reduced engine performance, and fuel injection system durability problems.

Why is it so important to have a working WIF Sensor?

Water Contamination is commonly found in today's diesel fuel and its detection and removal are a key factor in the life span of your engine fuel injection system. Water is mainly due to condensation, handling, and environmental conditions. While water is always present in diesel fuel, it is more pronounced in humid areas and marine applications. The job of the WIF Sensor is to alert you of the presence of water in your diesel fuel.

The presence of water in diesel fuel systems causes the following problems:

Water causes rust and the corrosion of iron components, forming loose particles of iron oxide which contribute to injector wear and component failure.
At the interface of water and diesel fuel, microbiological growth rapidly occurs under the proper conditions. The microbes form a sludge that can plug filters and hinder injector performance.
Additionally, the acid excreted by these microbes causes the corrosion of storage tanks and vehicle tanks, which leads to an increase in particles found in fuel.
Water can overwhelm standard on-engine diesel fuel filtration systems.
The High-Pressure Common Rail Fuel injection systems cannot have even small amounts of water in the injectors.
Water that makes it past the fuel filtration system to the injector system, since it doesn’t have the same lubrication as diesel fuel oil, can cause premature wear and injector failure.
Water in the fuel can also lead to premature wear of fuel pumps and other system components that rely upon the lubricating properties of diesel fuel oil.
Biodiesel and bio-oil fuels have become increasingly popular. However, these fuels have a greater affinity to water, and therefore are more difficult from which to remove water. Additionally, these fuels contribute to the more aggressive growth of microbes. Both of these items require the addition of secondary filtration systems to adequately protect modern HPCR systems.